Telemetry monitoring has become widely used in the care of patients such as coronary patients. Many hospitals now have sophisticated equipment to continuously monitor the condition of a coronary patient by portable individual telemetry units and a centralized receiving and recording system.
Several types of telemetry pouches have been developed to attach a telemetry unit to a patient. One type of telemetry pouch provides two layers of an opaque polyolefin material secured about their periphery to form a pocket. This first type of telemetry pouch does not allow the telemetry equipment to be viewed without removal of the unit from the pouch. Additionally, the open top of the pouch allows moisture and contaminants to invade the pocket.
A second type of telemetry pouch provides a rigid foam, such as styrofoam, pouch with a small window cut in the front face of the pouch to allow viewing of a specified portion of a telemetry unit for which the pouch was designed. This pouch has some shortcomings. First, the rigid foam may be hot and uncomfortable to the patient. Second, the pertinent part of the telemetry unit may only be viewed when the specific type of telemetry unit for which the pouch was designed is used with the pouch.
Another type of telemetry pouch is formed of cloth material sewn at the edges and provided with straps to tie the pouch around the patient's neck. This type of pouch is not designed to prevent moisture from coming in contact with the pouch nor to allow viewing of the telemetry pouch during use.
Another type of telemetry pouch is formed of two non-breathable plastic sheets secured together to form a pocket with sealable top. This type of pouch resembles and functions like a ZIPLOC.RTM. brand freezer bag. Since this type of pouch does not allow air to permeate the bag and cool the telemetry unit, the pouch may become quite hot and uncomfortable for the patient to wear.
One example of prior telemetry pouches is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,599 entitled Telemetry Pouch with Expansible Chest Strip to Vance M. Hubbard and Welton K. Brunson. U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,599 is incorporated by reference for all purposes in this application.